The appointments further strengthen the team in the North East office across assurance, tax and advisory.

Jonathan Greenaway is a partner in the firm’s assurance practice. Originally from Northern Ireland he started his career with PwC 13 years ago in Belfast.

He joined the Newcastle office in 2006 following a period in Bristol.

Over the past four and a half years as director, Greenaway has worked with a wide range of clients from privately owned businesses in Newcastle to listed businesses, and currently leads our private client team.

Kevin Barnard, who has been promoted to director in the transaction services advisory team, began his career with PwC in 1996 after graduating from Lancaster University and returning to his native North East.

He qualified in the assurance team before specialising in due diligence working on acquisition, divestment and listings transactions across the North, the UK and Europe.

He has worked across a wide range of industries including chemicals, manufacturing and health and also now leads the provision of transaction and wider due diligence services to our public sector clients across the North.

Asam Malik, promoted to director in the risk assurance team, joined PwC as a graduate from Northumbria University. During the 10 years he has worked for the organisation, Gateshead born Asam has worked on projects in New York, Chicago and across Europe. His team are national specialists within the firm for business continuity planning, ERP systems and project assurance.

Working across public and private sector organisations the team has grown significantly, increasing the services offered by the North East office.

The team is well known in the local market and helps clients with IT and project assurance and addressing the risks of emerging IT issues.

In the core assurance team, Mark Menton will be taking on his new role of director. The North Easterner is a Newcastle University graduate who started in the firm in 1998 and has worked with some of the leading companies in the North East gaining broad experience across a number of sectors. Key projects have included work on major deals for both Ineos and Grainger.

The firm has promoted Richard Podd to director in the tax division. Joining PwC in 2001 from Durham University, Richard worked in corporate tax servicing local clients for six years.

After a secondment in London he returned to the Newcastle office and the tax team in 2009. During recent years Podd, who lives in Whitley Bay, has worked with a large number of local PLCs further developing the opportunities within the local market.